Ruthenia

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Ruthenia or (ancient) Russia is a name that has been applied to parts of Eastern Europe which were the populated by Eastern Slavonic peoples, as well as to various states that existed in this territory in old times. Today this historical territory is divided among Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, and part of Poland.

The name Ruthenia is latinized form of Rus (Ruś). Until modern times it was applied to territories inhabited by speakers of East Slavic languages (Russian, Ukrainian, Belorusian) or to territories of contemporary Ukraine only. The origins of the name are attributed to the supposedly Varangian tribe of Rus'.

The following territories are related to the name "Ruthenia".

Contents

History

After the feudal consolidation of Ruthenia into several duchies, most of them were subjugated by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, later in personal union with the Kingdom of Poland to form the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (The Commonwealth of the Two Nations). There were serious attempts to change this union into the Commonwealth of the Three Nations: Poland, Lithuania (including Belarus), and Kievan Rus'.

The decline of Kievan Rus' and its subjugation to external empires was the basis for the split of Ruthenians into three separate nations. Ruthenians consolidated by Muscovy would become Russians and those incorporated to Lithuania would become Ukrainians and Belarussians.

Concerning the English usage of "Ruthenia"

There is a lot of confusion about "Ruthenia", "Russia", "Little Russia" and so on. What is the reason for this confusion? Basically, "Ruthenia" (as well as "Russia") was taken into the English language from Latin. It is a literary translation of the Slavic word "Rus". This word is translated into English in many forms, which differ mainly for political rather than etymological reasons. This article addresses all meanings of the word "Ruthenia":

1. Rus - the area(s) historically inhabited by all East Slavic people (united by Kievan Rus'), translated often - but not very precisely - into English as "Russia".
2. A former name for Ukraine - after Muscovy changed its name to Russia ("Rossiya") and the area later known as Ukraine was ceded by Lithuania to Poland.
3. Carpatho-Ruthenia ("Karpatskaya Rus").

It should be stressed that "Ruthenia" is always the translation of one Slavic word: Rus. The term "Ruthenia" has been used in English (and earlier in Latin) in all these meanings.

"Ruthenia": the land of all East Slavic people

1. The word "Rus" appeared in 9th century to mean the territory inhabited by Eastern Slavs. It was translated into Latin in many forms: "Ruzzi", "Rossia", "Rosia", "Russia", "Rusia", and of course, "Ruthenia". At that time, there was no confusion about the translation, because there was only one meaning until the state Kievan Rus' was fragmentated into several duchies. For further reading on this period, see article Kievan Rus'. The western duchies were subdued by Poland (the Halich or Galich duchy, known in the 13th and 14th centuries as the Kingdom of Ruthenia: the area around modern Lvov, then Lviv) and Lithuania. The eastern parts were subdued in 13th century by Tatars. The Republics of Pskov and Novgorod kept their independence until the end of the 15th century, when they were destroyed by Muscovy.

The problems with Latin and English word-usage began in the 15th and 16th centuries. The rulers of Muscovy started to be crowned Emperors and their country - Muscovy - "Rossiya" (see Imperial Russia). In following centuries this new term started also to be translated into English as "Russia". In the meantime, the territories of the historical Rus incorporated the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, as can be seen from the full name, "Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Rus' and Samogitia", were still called "Rus", translated into Latin (and English) as "Ruthenia" and its inhabitants, "Rusiny", translated as "Ruthenians". The Grand Duchy of Lithuania, taken as a whole, was basically a Ruthenian state, as it was populated mainly by Ruthenians, its nobles were of Ruthenian origins, and a variant of Old Slavonic close to Belarusian is the sole language of most surviving official documents of the state prior to 1697. Toward the end of the 18th century, the Russian Empire, Prussia, and Austria conquered and divided the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, in a series of partitions. The term "Rus" (translated as Ruthenia in Latin and English), was used until beginning of 20th century to refer to the territories of present-day Ukraine (not only the Austrian-ruled part). However, because of the influence of Russia on British scholars beginning in the 18th and 19th century, this region has also been known in English as "Little Russia."

To summarize: "Ruthenia" is always a translation of the word "Rus". "Russia" has been used to translate two different (though etymologically related) Slavic words: (1) "Rus" and (2) "Rossiya" – the former Muscovy and present-day Russia.

The above problem does not exist in the Slavic languages. The different translations into English are mainly for political reasons. For example, a Russian would always translate Rus as Russia. On the contrary, a Ukrainian or Belorusian (especially a nationalist) would translate this word as Ruthenia.

"Ruthenia": former name for Ukraine

2. Ruthenia or Rus- the former name for Ukraine, especially after its incorporation into the Kingdom of Poland 1569.

Carpathian Ruthenia

3. Ruthenia, Carpato-Ruthenia, Carpathian Ruthenia, or Carpatho-Ukraine is the name of a region in Central Europe comprising the southern slopes of the Carpathian Mountains. It is now part of Ukraine. It takes its name from the Ruthenes (also called Rusyns, Rusins, Carpatho-Rusin, or Russniaks), a small Slavonic people related to the Ukrainians and Slovaks, and speaking a language referred to as "Rusyn" or, less correctly, "Ruthenian".

For the ethnic history and culture of Ruthenian people, wherever they may live, see Ruthenians.

History

Before World War I Carpato-Ruthenia was part of Hungary. It became part of Czechoslovakia after the Treaty of Trianon in 1920. Following Adolf Hitler's seizure of the country in 1939, Ruthenia briefly proclaimed its independence, before being annexed by Hungary. After World War II it was ceded to the Soviet Union and included into the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic; the latter became the independent state of Ukraine in 1991, with Carpato-Ruthenia as a part of that state.

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